Clashing Blades: Could we ever be Nakama?
by furysflame666
Summary: A tale of three bounty hunters. They unexpectedly meet the Mugiwara pirates, and the siblings need assistance. Their sister will die without help. What will happen when the female swordsman meets the ex pirate hunter Zoro?
1. Chapter 1: Chaos aboard the Going Merry

It was a clear blue sky over the Grand Line. The Going Merry remained stable and, for once, quiet. All of its crew members were doing their own thing. Zoro was sleeping up in the crow's nest, Sanji was in the galley preparing lunch, and Nami was overlooking the Log Pose and their current course. Robin was sitting and reading on the upper deck, and Ussop was telling another one of his unique stories to Chopper, who was, for some reason, always eager to listen. A gentle breeze was all that kept the small ship going, and the weather looked like it was going to stay nice out all day.

However, that calm wasn't going to last, as usual. The captain, usually the most revered of a pirate crew, was sprawled out on the deck with his tongue hanging from his mouth. This captain was Mugiwara no Luffy (Straw Hat Luffy), a supposedly infamous and well-known pirate whose bounty was about 100,000,000 beli. In his current state, though, he looked like no more than a whining child.

He was complaining that he was hungry to anyone who would listen. His nakama (comrades, friends, etc.) weren't too interested, since this happened constantly. It was a peaceful sail nonetheless.

Until something woke Zoro from his midday nap that is. He looked out on the ocean and saw a small silhouette of some people on the ocean. From there he heard cries for help, he supposed, and tried to alert the rest of the crew.

Before he could get the chance, Ussop called out, "Oi!" (Hey!)

Everyone turned to him as he pointed toward where Zoro had seen the figures. They followed his hand to see what both crew members had seen. All of them heard it now, save for Sanji, who was still in the galley. The desperate cries for assistance. Nami called for a change in the ship's course so the Mugiwara pirates could help the people.

Noticing the change, Luffy jumped up and assumed his position on the distinctive figurehead of the Going Merry, the goat. Zoro came down from the crow's nest to meet the rest of the gathering crew on the deck.

When they came closer, they could make out the figures that were calling. Two males in their late teens swimming with a broken piece of wood, trying to keep another person, a female, it looked, on the plank. She was halfway in the water, though, and looked unconscious.

"OI! Help!" the younger looking one called, waving his arm. "We need a doctor! She's injured!"

As the ship stopped beside them, the doctor of the ship, Chopper, readied his medical supplies. Zoro lowered a rope down to them and the older male climbed up. He immediately bent over the rail of the Going Merry to try to lift the female up to the ship. This took a few moments, but when he had her securely in his grasp, he lifted her up. The male turned, with the girl cradled in his arms and said pleadingly, "Please, could you help her? I beg of you! She'll die if she's not treated!"

Chopped nodded and motioned toward the cabins. The male took a step closer to the doctor and stopped. He noticed the strange creature that was supposedly going to treat her and gave a surprised look. After a second, he disregarded it thinking that whatever it took to save this girl, he would do.

"Domo arigato!" (Thank you very much!) He said, bowing as far as he could without dropping the female in his arms and hurriedly walked into the place where Chopper had mentioned, with the younger male trailing closely behind.

When they arrived in the room where the treatment would take place, the older male gently placed the girl on the bed, and let the unique doctor look over his patient. The two of the female's companions stayed close.

The girl had deep wounds, from a sword most likely, slicing from her shoulder to her stomach, and a diagonal cut from the other side of the stomach to her hips. Also, there was a wound on her left arm as well, along with many other minor cuts on her chest and abdomen area. It made Chopper and the rest of the people in the treatment room wince seeing the blood soaked gashes. Her breathing was raspy, and she was trembling in her sleep. Sweat was visible on her forehead, and the pale tone of her skin didn't look healthy.

Chopper scrambled through his supplies looking for the right tools. During this, the males turned to the Mugiwara pirates and thanked them sincerely. However, their attention was on the sickening wounds the girl had. The males could see the disgusted and amazed looks on the pirates' faces. They turned back to their nakama and saw that the cuts left too much of their friend exposed.

They whipped around, traces of blushes on their faces and asked the pirates to leave. Robin and Nami realized this as well and quickly booted the men from the room, unfortunately, including the girl's nakama. Soon after, they left, leaving Chopper to finish his work.

-----------------------------

...Where am I . . . ? Am I dead? the girl thought as she awoke to some dimly lit room hours later. The cabin was blurry at first, but after a moment, the view stabilized and she was able to see her surroundings. Nope, not dead...but where the hell might I be?

She tried to lift herself from the bed, but the stinging pain she felt made her drop onto it again. The girl reached toward her wounds and found them bandaged. She had no idea who could have done this.

Is this a dream? No, it feels too real. she thought and closed her eyes. She would figure it out when she had the strength, she determined, and fell into a deep sleep once more.

----------------------------

In the morning, the Mugiwara crew and their new nakama (from their drinking the night before) checked on the girl. Their friends didn't tell them too much about her, since they were too worried. They had stayed up practically all night waiting for her to wake up, but ironically fell asleep when she did.

Today, Zoro noticed something he hadn't the day before. Two swords, shorter than his three katana, were strapped on the girl's hips. Out of curiosity, he walked over to her and tried to grab one of the sheaths. He got as far as tapping the cover of one until the girl's snapped open and she jumped up into a crouching position, grabbing her swords. In a spinning motion, she took her sword's sheath and smacked it up against Zoro's face. When the move was completed, both swords were in her hands, one scabbard on the bed next to her, and one on the floor.

"What the hell was that for!" Zoro yelled angrily, clutching at the welt forming on his face.

"What the hell were you doing!" she shouted back from her crouching position on the bed.

It became a glaring contest between the two until Chopper intervened.

"Hey! You should be resting! Please lie down." He said, pushing Zoro back and trying to calm the girl down.

She looked down to the creature speaking and raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, but what the hell are you exactly . . . ?" she asked in a calmer, but still wary voice.

"Please sit down." The creature replied, completely disregarding her question.

The girl looked up to her nakama and the crew of the ship, and jumped down from the bed.

"What happened now, nii-san?" (elder brother) she asked while walking closer to the elder male.

"Nokomi-chan! Please listen to what Chopper says! You shouldn't be up!" the boy said while patting his hands in the air to try to calm her. (Note: Nokomi means hope.)

The one called Nokomi raised her sword to her elder brother's neck and said threateningly, "Don't call me '-chan'."

"Nesan! (Elder sister, it's pronounced "nay-san") Please!" the youngest of the three said.

Nokomi put her sword back down to her side and stared at her brothers. Then she asked them in a hushed voice, so only they could hear, "What happened after my fight with Mihawk?"

When the girl looked up, she could see the whole Mugiwara crew had heard her. She sighed, and slowly went to retrieve the sheaths of her swords while the surprised comments came flying out.

"Wow! You fought with him? Sugoi!" Luffy cried. (Sugoi means "Cool" or "awesome")

Nokomi could not see, but Zoro's eyes went wide at her statement. He had fought the legendary swordsman once before as well, and it did not go well.

"Well . . . " the younger brother started, but the green-haired samurai cut him off.

"What happened!" Zoro asked frantically, which made his nakama look at him.

"Baka (idiot), does it look like I won?" she replied after she sat on the bed. There was a hint of anger in her voice, for she didn't want to be reminded of that one-sided match. Zoro calmed down, and didn't say anything more.

A silence filled the room until the cook of the ship came running into the room with a love struck expression on his face.

"Oh beautiful angel of the sea! Are you well? I waited all night for you to wake!" Sanji practically danced in, heading for Nokomi. The girl was about to draw out her weapon to strike at the love cook, but her brothers beat her to it. They jumped in front of her and stopped her.

The older one pulled the mace from his belt and held it at an offensive position, and the younger pulled the double bladed spear from its place on his back and held it to Sanji's neck. He stopped and his expression turned serious.

"Keep away from our sister, bastard!" Nokomi's older brother yelled.

Just when Sanji looked as if he would go on the offensive, Nokomi shoved her brothers off to the side, stood up and faced the cook.

"Please," Nokomi said to her siblings, "if he wants a fight, I'll give it to him."

The female unsheathed one of her swords with her thumb slightly, and just when she was going to pull the blade from its home, she felt a hilt at her back.

How did he get there . . . ? Nokomi wondered as she stopped her movement.

"If it's a sword duel you want, you've got one." Zoro stated from behind her, and stepped back.

During all of this commotion, Luffy had not stopped laughing, finding the whole situation funny. Chopper was telling the girl to lie down, and Ussop had long ago found shelter from the fight behind a desk in the room.

Nokomi intended to face the swordsman, but she never finished turned about. Also she was in mid-sentence, engaging the man when her vision blurred and she fell backwards.

"Nesan!"

"Nokomi-chan!"

Both of her brothers ran to her aid, and kept her from tumbling to the ground, knocking Zoro over completely in the process. He cursed quietly but no one paid any attention to him. Their attention was on the injured girl.

Her brothers guided her to the bed where she sat for a moment, holding her head with one hand in pain. It was throbbing a bit, and her limbs felt numb.

"Damn, I didn't think the damage was that bad." Nokomi said to herself quietly.

"He did a number on you. Rest, sister." The elder brother requested.

"Are you sure that it's safe?" she asked.

Already, the females of the crew were pulling the men out of the cabin, since they were causing a ruckus, and after, Nokomi finally lay back down.

"Sister, do you know who they were?"her older brother asked when the siblings were alone.

"Baka, of course I do." Nokomi responded, eyes closed, and hands crossed over her stomach. Then, she said softly, "Out of all the ships you could have brought me to, you had to choose the one with the pirate captain worth one hundred million?"

"That was the only ship that came, nesan." Her younger brother explained.

"You could have waited until another one came."

"You would have died, Nokomi-chan." Her nii-san said.

She punched him for that, and he fell to the ground, glaring at her.

"Don't call me '-chan'," she told him, and he picked himself off of the floor, "and I guess it's better than arriving on a ship full of bloodthirsty pirates."

"Yeah," the younger male agreed, "isn't the monkey boy supposed to be infamous? From what we saw last night, he seems more of a complete dumbass."

That drew a small chuckle from his sister, and then she frowned in pain. Her brothers knew she needed to sleep, so they left a minute later.


	2. Chapter 2: Meet the Brothers

It was nightfall when Nokomi awoke. Her nii-san was sitting in a chair, asleep next to her, mace in hand.

To protect me from the ero-(erotic or perverted) cook...? she mused. The swordsman didn't need protecting, but her brothers wouldn't hear it.

Her younger brother was leaning against the frame of the bed on the ground, also sleeping. He had his spear in his lap. With as much care as she could muster, the sister picked her younger sibling up and placed him in the spot she had been a few moments ago.

Kichiro, you need to lose some weight, she silently told her sleeping brother, and then before she walked from the room, she thought, or perhaps I need to train more.

Nokomi closed the door to the cabin and walked through the small corridor. She could hear snores coming from one of the rooms, and tried to stay quiet when walking by it.

Finally, she made her way out onto the deck, and stretched.

Hmm...no one's on watch? Strange. For someone worth that much they should at least have some sort of lookout... the swordsman observed, and continued out; until she was near the goat figurehead.

"Intimidating." Nokomi said to herself, sarcasm dripping from the whisper.

She took the swords from her belt and sat down facing the stern of the ship. The swords were placed diagonally from the ground, on her shoulder as she began to meditate; her eyes were closed and she could hear every sound on the ship.

This included the footsteps coming toward her.

The green haired swordsman stepped up to the seemingly vulnerable girl and stared at her. This was the first time he had seen her clearly, since the other encounters were all chaotic. He just now noticed her hair was dark blue.

She was wearing a loose washed out red shirt that had sleeves that stopped at the elbow. The cuts in the fabric must have been from the legendary swordsman's blade. Her pants were a dark brown color, and were baggy. On her feet were thin black shoes, which were also old looking, and on her upper left arm was a band with the symbols for "power" etched into it.

Her whole appearance looked shabby, but the blades that rested on her shoulder seemed well maintained. The scabbards were free from any dirt or rot, although they had been in the water. Slowly, Zoro unsheathed his black katana. She didn't move. Did she not hear the blade coming from the sheath? No, unless she was an idiot, which he doubted. He brought his blade parallel to the ground, and swiped it across her line of vision, just close enough to clip her nose. It stopped when it entered her personal space, though, from the girl bringing one finger up to halt the blade's course.

Her eyes opened, and she saw her blood drip down her finger from catching the sword.

The expression on her face remained calm, however, and she stayed there for a few moments.  
Crap. she cursed in her head as she pushed the sword away and stood up.

Then, Nokomi ripped the bottom of her sleeve and began to wrap the cut with the piece of cloth. While she was performing this, she said to Zoro, "Any particular reason you needed to do that?"

He did not reply.

Half a minute later, she was done, and she looked up to see the swordsman. He returned her gaze for a moment, then he looked out to the ocean.

"Your name's Nokomi, right?" he asked while glancing at the seemingly endless sea.

She nodded, and leaned on the wooden railing of the Going Merry about three feet from Zoro. "Of course I know who you are:" Nokomi answered to his unasked question, " 'the swordsman of the Mugiwara pirates, and former pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro.' "

"That's right," he responded impassively, "why do you know that?"

"Well, being in the same business, you should know that rumors spread quickly about people." she explained.

"Aren't you too young to be a pirate?" Zoro said.

"Tch. I'm gonna be seventeen tomorrow, and I should be more specific. You_were_ in the business. I'm a bounty hunter."

"You're way too young to be doing that, too." he told Nokomi. "And I don't recall calling myself that. I did what I needed to eat."

"I guess that's what we're doing. We don't hold any twisted perception of justice, otherwise we'd be in the Marines." the girl supposed.

"We?" Zoro echoed.

"Hai. (Yes)" Nokomi said, "My brothers and I have gotten ourselves pretty famous around here. Apparently we've been taking down some powerful men wanted by the government. They were all talk, though, total weaklings."

"I can see you're a swordsman." Zoro observed while glancing down at her belt where Nokomi had just replaced her weapons.

"What, do you want a duel? I'd love to, but I don't think my body's able to right now." she replied; Zoro turned towards the sea again.

"You should really be resting; Chopper's going to be on your case in the morning." the man informed Nokomi.

"Would you be resting if you had these wounds?" Nokomi challenged.

Again, Zoro did not answer.

Rater, after an uncomfortable moment of silence, he asked, "So, why did you try to stop my sword before? You could've lost your finger."

Nokomi shrugged. "I didn't want to lose my nose, either. And besides, you wouldn't want the ero-cook on your case, would you?"

Completely disregarding her last statement- that seemed to be happening often- Zoro kept with his question, "How did you know I would stop the blade?"

There was a second's pause, and then she answered, "I didn't."  
His expression seemed irritated. "Sweat drop So, you were taking a gamble?"

"You can call it that."

Zoro: Pulsing vein

"Oh." Nokomi gasped quietly, looking at the pale orange sky. "Darn, looks like I didn't get much sleep. I can look forward to a lecture from nii-san now..."

"What're their names?" the swordsman asked quickly.

"They didn't tell you...? How rude of them." the girl answered while crossing her arms. "The smaller one is Kichiro, and the older one is Isamu. And, a word of warning: call me '-chan' and..."

"Something bad will happen, right?" Zoro finished for her, unimpressed.

"What? You don't think it will?" she questioned, slightly angry.

His reply was a cocked eyebrow and a slight smirk. Nokomi's rebuttal was a punch often delivered by Nami to not-too-intelligent people on the ship. Zoro fell to the ground with an over exaggerated bump on his head. When he recovered, some of the crew had begun to rise.

Nokomi recognized this by a grumbling Luffy walking from the cabins. After he had woken up an instant later, he began barking commands to get the ship moving again.

The ship was stopped...? Nokomi asked herself seriously. She had thought that the boat was moving all night. Must've been the wind...

She looked to where Zoro had been sitting a second ago and found that he had walked away. The female swordsman looked on deck and saw him glaring at her. She shrugged it off with an innocent smile. He became irritated again, stormed off and began to raise the anchor, his normal routine.

Ussop had woken up as well and began helping. Nami and Robin were overlooking the procedure, as they normally did; the only ones missing were the cook and the doctor. The mystery was solved a moment later when shouts erupted from where she thought the room where she was sleeping was.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" an immature voice screamed. It was probably that strange doctor. "Where'd she go?!"

"What the hell did you do to her, you bastard?!" Nokomi heard Isamu bellow at someone. She had a feeling Sanji was to blame.

"What are you talking about, baka? She's probably-" Sanji replied, but Nokomi's younger brother cut him off.

"Where is she, you crappy cook?!" Kichiro yelled.

"What did you say?!"

Clear sounds of a large scuffle were evident in the cabins. If this kept up, the Going Merry would spring a leak. So, in a loud voice, Nokomi yelled out, "OI, dumbasses! I'm out here!"

Stomps of footsteps could be heard, and then, the three men came out.

"Why the hell weren't you in bed?!" Isamu chastised.

Sanji came running up to the girl, hearts in his eyes, and in a lovey-dovey voice he asked, "What should I call you? Nokomi-swan? Or maybe Nokomi-chwan?"

(Note: Yes, I'm aware that there's a "w" there. Sanji actually calls girls by this name. -.-')

She stepped back from Sanji, because he was too close, and he was freaking her out. Her eyebrow twitched in surprise, but once she registered he had called her that condemning name, she became enraged. But, before she could say anything to Sanji, her brothers spoke.

"What are you doing, hentai?! (pervert)" Isamu shouted.

"Get away from her!" Kichiro added.

Seeing this as an excellent opportunity to piss off her brothers, Nokomi placed a hand gently on Sanji's shoulder and said to her sibling, "What's wrong, Isamu? I guess you can't protect me, eh?"

The cook's eyes turned slightly more normal as he wrapped his arm around Nokomi's waist. She offered no resistance.

The whole Mugiwara crew was watching now.

"Why you-" Isamu muttered while taking a step closer to the two.

"Threatening a lady?" Sanji said with a deadly tone.

"Quiet." Nokomi said to him.

"Hai (yes!), Nokomi-chan!" he happily agreed, hearts appearing once more.

Her older brother had taken one step and Nokomi delivered the most terrifying glare she could. Isamu steeped back in rage, and Kichiro looked a bit scared. Both of them walked off, in fear and in anger.

Nokomi looked up to Sanji, who returned her gaze. She smiled sweetly, which certainly pleased the cook. Then her face turned dark, and she launched him halfway across the ship.

In a face that was normal for an angered Nami, with the sharp fangs and the demonic eyes, she yelled to him, "What the hell did you think you were doing, ero-cook?! AND DON'T EVER CALL ME '-CHAN'!!"

"Or something bad will happen." Zoro chimed in, smirking.

"Damare!! (Pulsing vein x3)" Nokomi fumed.

Meanwhile, Sanji had a lump atop a lump atop a lump on his head, and it took him a few moments before he recovered.

Throughout the whole ordeal Luffy, again, was laughing. The rest of the crew looked slightly to completely shocked.

"Oh no, another demon..." Chopper whimpered as he walked out. He had often called Nami that because of her temper.

An instant later Nokomi returned to her calm nature. She walked to the deck, but lost the strength in her legs. Almost falling, she gripped the railing of the ship tightly. Chopper saw this and told her to go back to the room where she slept.

"Damare, chibi. (kid or short person)" Nokomi told Chopper with her tongue sticking out in typical anime style.

"That's it!" the doctor yelled angrily and pulled out a needle. The female swordsman knew it was some form of tranquilizer or sedative. He began to walk towards her.

"Oh crap!" she cursed as she quickly backed up. Then, she began to run away. "Get away from me with that thing!!"

Chopper chased her all about the ship with the syringe, knocking over various members of the Mugiwara crew. It went on for a few minutes, before Nokomi fell over again.

Damn it... she swore in her head when she couldn't pick herself up.

The swordsman could hear Chopper's footsteps as he walked closer. Just when he was going to administer the substance, she heard a loud sound of impact. A moment later, there was a crash and she saw Sanji walk in front of her.

"Breakfast is ready, Nokomi-ch...I mean, Nokomi-swan." Sanji said with the love struck, but concerned tone. He stretched his hand out to offer the girl aid.

She smacked it away and, with much difficulty, got up.

"I'm fine." she told him bitterly, irritated at her weakness, "And don't call me that either, ero-cook."

Nokomi walked past her brothers, who had just arrived to see her conversation with Sanji. She looked to the main mast, where Chopper had fallen to a powerful kick from the cook. Stepping past there, she decided indeed to go to the room where she slept before.

The swordsman could think well with quiet, so when she closed the door to the cabin, she sat on the chair in there to ponder hat she could do next.

Before she could even start, she heard a call of "Nesan" from the hallway.

"Nani. (What)" she replied in an irritated voice. Her brothers walked in when she finish.

"Aren't you hungry?" Isamu asked.

"Baka, you're asking me that?" Her hands were tucked behind her head as she answered. "I'm not taking their food. I don't trust it."

"Come on Nokomi. We ate with them last night, and we're fine. You don't seriously believe they'll mess with the food, do you? That cook's in love with you." Kichiro said.

In doing so, Isamu whacked him in the back of the head, causing an over exaggerated bump to appear.

"Don't go near him anymore." Her older brother commanded of her.

With a demonic glare, she said darkly, "Since _when_ are you the leader of this little group, nii-san?"

He backed up a step cautiously and replied, "I'm not. But I'm still your older brother, and you will listen to me!"

A moment later she chased them out of the room by throwing various objects at them.

On the way out, she yelled to them, "Come back when you fix that dumbass attitude!"

She went and lay down on the bed.

Baka... Nokomi thought as she put her hands behind her head again. Now...what to do about my predicament.

She dug around in her back pocket for something, and when her search came up empty, she asked quietly, "Where's the damn map?!"

Usually, there was a map of the area that Kichiro had made in her back pocket. It was gone now, and now she couldn't decide her next course of action.

Damn it...why am I so weak?! she yelled at herself, If I didn't lose, I wouldn't have lost the map. If that didn't happen, I'd still be able to fight! Now I'm hardly able to! BAKA!

At the end of her chastisement to herself, Luffy walked through the door to the cabin holding a chunk of meat still on the bone. He was still chewing a bite when he said, "Hi!"

She regarded him for a moment, but said nothing.

"Looks like he beat you pretty bad, huh? Hahaha!" he laughed, mentioning her horrible fight with Mihawk again. His pleasant attitude was squashed by Nokomi smashing him atop the head with the sheath of her wakizashi, or mid-sized samurai sword. "Ow! What did you do that for??"

"You were bothering me."

"Well, it didn't hurt that much." Luffy explained.

"Tch."

"Yosh! You wanna be my nakama?" he asked happily, taking another bite out of the meat in his hand.

"What the hell?" Nokomi replied. "I'm not a friend of pirates, sorry. Besides, why would you befriend someone you've known for a day?"

"I know your brothers! They're nakama! And you will be too, I've already decided." Luffy told her, which caused her to get annoyed.

"It's not your decision! (Pulsing vein)" she yelled.

"Yes it is! I'm the captain of this ship, and you're a passenger! That means you listen to me!"

They were right. Nokomi thought, remembering what her brothers had said about Mugiwara no Luffy. He _is_ a dumbass.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Go away."

"If I do, you either have to join my crew or sleep!" he shouted.

"Sleep...?" Nokomi echoed impassively.

When he pulled something out from behind his back, Nokomi's eyes went wide. It was the needle.

"Chopper dropped this. It will keep you from running around and getting hurt, right?" he asked, as if not knowing what it would do. The swordsman had a feeling he really had no idea what it was.

"You idiot! Do you know what that-" she started, but he cut her off.

"Oh, so it does do that!" he said, and positioned it in his hand, "Gomu gomu no..."

"Oh crap!" Nokomi cursed as she sprang up from the bed, flinging the door open and running out.

"NAGERU!! (TOSS!)" He yelled and chucked it at the fleeing girl like a kunai knife.

It caught her in the arm. She stumbled, fell to the ground and gasped in pain. She yanked it out and saw that it had been administered. Her vision was going now, but she could hear Luffy's footsteps and a few more. The rest of the crew, and surely her brothers had heard the struggle.

"Damn it...why...do I have to be so..." she rasped quietly, "weak..."

And after that, her head fell to the ground, and she fell into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3: Troubles

Nokomi awoke still in the hall where she fell. She was in someone's arms, and they were moving. Once her vision stabilized, she saw who it was: the green-haired swordsman.

"Z-Zoro...?" she barely said. Her throat was constricted almost to the point where she couldn't breathe.

Her whole body felt numb. Damn that Luffy, she thought. Trying to move was pointless; she had no control over her muscles.

"Why do you even bother?" He didn't even look down to her as he spoke, "Just stay quiet."

It made her irritated that she had to be taken care of by anyone, especially pirates. And the fact that he had treated her with disrespect didn't help. Even though he was taking her back to where she had slept, Nokomi wasn't pleased. She tried in vain to use her own strength; all she could do was barely curl her hand into a fist. Fires were in her eyes.

The swordsman looked down and saw those flames: the purest anger he had seen in a long while. It looked as if nothing could calm this girl's spirit.

At last, Zoro reached the cabin door and opened it. He walked in and gently placed Nokomi on the bed, where she would stay until the medicine wore off. When he turned to leave, Zoro heard her mutter something almost silently. She kept repeating it as loudly as her condition would allow. After hearing it a few times, he finally figured out what she was saying.

"Damn it...damn it...damn it!"

He didn't look back until he reached the door. Zoro half-turned to see Nokomi, eyes closed and brow furrowed deeply. No reply came from the swordsman as he left, shutting the door behind him.

There was a shuffle outside a second later, but no one came in. Nokomi was left alone to sulk and yell at herself for being weak once again. How could she let Mugiwara no Luffy get the chance to attack? She asked herself angrily. What would have happened if I were on any other pirate ship?!

Get up. Nokomi instructed herself. Come on! You can't let this beat you!

Unfortunately, she couldn't find the strength to rise. She would remain vulnerable for at least a few hours. What would happen in that time? Would her brothers kick Luffy's ass? Nokomi wouldn't know until the substance wore off.

Why did _he_ bother? she wondered, thinking of what Zoro had said before. Why did he help me? I'm sure nii-san could have brought me here. Does he pity me? My weakness? Hell no, he better not. As soon as I'm able, pain is coming his way!

Somehow, her mind calmed at that statement. Whenever there was a fight or a scheduled fight, Nokomi was more at peace than when there were moments of silence. Then, she added:

As soon as I'm done, we're leaving. I don't care what that baka captain says, this ship will be behind us by morning tomorrow.

When Nokomi started to feel her limbs again, about three hours had passed. If there was a way to die from boredom, she almost did. After she had made that silent declaration, she had nothing else to do. She couldn't think of their route to get back to an island, because she had lost the map. All the swordsman could do was wait patiently, something that she was in short supply of lately.

Since she was able to move a bit more, Nokomi tried to lift herself into a sitting position. To her surprise, she was able to. But, when she went a step further and stepped up, her legs collapsed under her and she fell to the ground.

Ow. Damn, that hurt! Nokomi thought.

Slowly, the swordsman used her arms to push herself from the floor. Her legs were as a scared Ussop's as she used one of her wakizashi for support. As she reached the door, Nokomi took a deep breath. Even walking that far was strenuous.

Then, she was completely knocked over by an incoming visitor.

"God damn it! What the freak is your problem?!" Nokomi cursed as she struggled to get up.

It was the captain once again, and he looked to her. He had various bandages on his face, and this proved Nokomi's earlier thought. Her brothers had beaten up Luffy for what he did. Before he could say anything, Nokomi unsheathed the sword she was using for support and sluggishly brought it parallel to the ground, pointed at his neck.

"Get away from me, jackass. Do you have any idea what you did to me?!" As she glared at him she stood there, trembling slightly.

Her breathing was heavy and slow, but controlled. Some sweat started to drip down from her face. It seemed that every motion was very difficult for her.

"Nope. Not at all." Luffy smiled and crossed his arms.

If she had the strength for it, she would have fallen to the floor, sweat drops covering her head.

However, she was in no mood for games.

She brought the sword down diagonally, hoping to slash across Mugiwara's chest with the blade of her weapon. But something stopped her. A powerful force swung her sword to the side, and almost out of her hand. If not for her strong grip despite her frail condition, it would have embedded itself in the ship's wall.

Nokomi found out what had pushed her sword a moment later when the green haired swordsman walked into the room.

"Yo Zoro." Luffy greeted, oblivious to all that had happened.

Zoro ignored what he had said and spoke directly to Nokomi.

"Oi, oi. What do you think you're doing?" he said with one of his katana still partly unsheathed. Nokomi fixed her grip on her sword and pointed toward Zoro now.

"You." She said angrily, her eyes narrowed, "Why did you help me? Do you pity me? Bad mistake."

He raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, "That's not something you should question."

A slight more anger leaked onto her face as a bead of sweat from her forehead dripped to the ground.

"Answer me." she said evenly, "Why did you do it?"

His answer was the sheathing of his sword and a wave of dismissal as he walked away.  
"Baka..." his voice trailed off as he said it.

"What?!" Nokomi yelled as she re-sheathed her blade as well and rushed at Zoro.  
Luffy stopped in her way and held her back as he walked, Nokomi not being able to break his surprisingly strong hold.

Then, Isamu and Kichiro came bolting down the hall. They saw what Luffy was doing and ran at him.

"Yosh." he released the girl who had by this time calmed down. Zoro was gone from the corridor. Luffy stepped in front of Nokomi and smiled at her. "Bye now!"

He dashed away and bumped into Kichiro, knocking him over as he passed. Isamu, not waiting for his brother to get up, rushed after Luffy, cursing.

A few seconds later Kichiro was able to pull himself off the ground. He walked over to Nokomi, who had not moved since Luffy held her back from throttling Zoro. Her gaze was to the ground.

"Nesan?" he asked gingerly. Not knowing what would set her off at this point, Kichiro approached slowly. "Nesan, can you move? Here, I'll help you to lay down-"

"If I wanted to sit, I would have _crawled_ over to the bed." she almost growled at him.

Nokomi walked off and left Kichiro back near the entrance to the cabin, worried.

Nokomi walked out on deck and was greeted by no one. They all went about their business as if she was not there. It was fine by her, since she did not want to be bothered by anyone.

She went to the upper deck and sat down, the wind slightly tousling her hair. The swordsman pulled her swords from her belt and placed them in front of her. It was easier to sit that way.

A quiet chuckle escaped her lips. What was she doing, relaxing on an enemy ship? A _pirate_ ship, no less. She had to get off the Going Merry soon; she was going crazy doing nothing. That doctor wouldn't let her train if she wanted to. It wasn't that way with just her brothers. Sure, they would protest, saying she would only injure herself more, but Nokomi could easily chase them off. Usually by just her words.

Oh well, she thought a moment later. Nokomi would train anyway. She needed something to do. 

She looked to her left, and saw the green haired swordsman sleeping. Zoro had been there the whole time, she knew that, and she chuckled again. Would he ever wake up if someone wanted him to?

She then looked out across the sea, as Zoro had done this morning. And, just like this morning, there was absolutely no land.

My God... she thought, Will I _ever_ get off this accursed ship...?

Finally, Nokomi stood up and slowly stretched her muscles. She put her swords back onto her belt and unsheathed one.

Time for some Ittou-ryu (one sword style) techniques, I suppose. Nokomi told herself as she placed her right hand at the top of the handle and her left hand at the bottom.

She assumed a fighting stance, tip of her sword pointing towards her imaginary opponent's neck.

"First strike..." she whispered to no one.

A slice down the center of the opponent's body, and then she turned to the right, to face the next "fighter."

Two cuts, both diagonal, were the next in the sequence. They both mirrored each other. She did a forward thrust, then flipped around and drew out her other sword. Nokomi was into her form now. Total focus.

Her swords whipped through the air with deadly speed. They spun and slashed quickly and would have killed many people, had she any immediate enemies.

She ducked, slashed with her sword, did a low kick behind her, whipped around, and cut through the air with both her blades.

This went on for about ten minutes, before Nokomi's breathing was moderate in rate and she looked over to where the green-haired swordsman was sleeping, only, something was different. He was watching, and when she glanced over at him, he did not avert his gaze.

"Nani? (What?)" she asked, holding both of her wakizashi in a rest position.

Silence seemed to be his favorite form of communication; no answer.

She shrugged impassively and sheathed her blades; it was time to meditate.

Right in that spot, she sat, cross legged. Her eyes were closed. She didn't move.

Nokomi heard the boards of the ship creak as it sailed along, the churning of the waves as it hit the stern of the Going Merry. She also heard Zoro's shoes hit the floorboards as he walked up to her.

She peeked out of one eye and saw him standing about a foot back from her. The sun had cast a shadow, a cool spot on a warm day over Nokomi because of it; Zoro had a bright outline, which made her see spots. He was holding one of his katana to her chest; the tip of the sword ended inches from her shirt.

"What do you want? Saru ("leave" or "go away")." she said to him.

"Take your brothers and get off of the ship." he ordered coldly. "You don't belong here."


	4. Chapter 4: First Clash

Again, I don't own One Piece, just Nokomi and her brothers. Enjoy, everyone.

And by the way, reviews/comments/whatever you want to call them are welcome and appreciated. : )

* * *

"Really?" Nokomi replied to him, feigning surprise, "That's what I think too."

Not the reaction Zoro intended her to have. He leveled his sword to her nose.

"Get your katana out of my face." she ordered, slightly irritated. Then, she smiled, "I can't meditate this way."

With one swift motion, he sheathed his sword and lurched toward Nokomi. She was only able to wrap her hands around Zoro's arm as he lifted her clear off the deck by her shirt.

"What the hell?!" she yelled.

The female swordsman used both of her legs to deliver a kick to his stomach. He dropped her immediately with a grunt. As soon as she touched the ground, she rolled backwards into a defensive crouch, drawing one of her wakizashi.

"I knew you wanted to pick a fight with me." she smirked, "So be it!!"

She ran towards him, almost cutting his head clear off of his shoulders, only to be stopped by his white katana, suddenly in his mouth. Nokomi stepped back, and drew her other sword.

"Almost got you." her smile did not fade. "Damn, should've tried harder."

Zoro drew out his other two swords. It was a standoff.

They stood perfectly still, eyeing each other with a samurai's concentration. Whoever could've reported this disturbance from the crow's nest was, for whatever reason, silent. The wind between them was the only sound.

Then, there was a change in the wind. And all exploded into motion.

They both jumped at each other at the same time, creating a wrestling match with their blades. Smaller in size and in muscle mass, Nokomi was losing. However, that wasn't her style. From her position, she practically slid around to Zoro's back and tried slicing there. He was just barely able to keep her from landing a hit. Zoro twisted around just in time to jump away from a forward thrust delivered by Nokomi's right wakizashi. Then, from there, he was hit in the stomach with a roundhouse kick. He stepped back.

"Did you think I was limited to my blades alone?" Nokomi commented, her leg still poised in the air from the strike.

When she placed her foot down, she used that force to leap at the Santou-ryu (three sword style) swordsman. One blade went for a cut at his shoulder, and the other tried another thrust.

Both were knocked off to the side, and using that opening, Zoro used his left katana to try a diagonal strike. Nokomi lurched backward so the strike missed, and went with the flow of her move and jumped backward into another crouch.

He didn't waste any time. Zoro ran towards her and tried a cut straight down, aiming for her head. From her crouching position, Nokomi rolled to the side and tried to bring Zoro's legs out from under him. She was able to catch one leg, but he stepped away and recovered. But, by then Nokomi had gotten up and jumped at him once again.

The green-haired swordsman dodged her attack, making her cut clear through the railing of the ship.

"Hey!" he yelled, trying to strike at her again, but failing due to Nokomi bringing her sword up to block. It was a strength match again. "It's my ass that's going to be yelled at because of that!"

"Well," Nokomi started to reply, rolling his sword away over her head and trying another diagonal strike, "You should've thought of that before you attacked me!"

Her smile was evident as she completed the strike. It cut into the swordsman's shirt and created a nick on his skin. Only a small amount of blood was present. They broke away from each other and a staring match between them.

"You should focus more, look at what I've done." her smile was present still. She looked to the area she had attacked; it had cut into another old wound, she could see.

A small smile worked its way to Zoro's lips. "Look at what I've done." he echoed, in an arrogant way.

Nokomi glanced down at her side. It showed a wound much like her opponent's. She was slightly surprised, but of course she hid it. How could he have moved so quickly?  
A second's glance was all the San-tou-ryuu swordsman needed, for he was on top of her in an instant with two more attacks. Nokomi just barely brought her swords into an 'X' above her head to stop the overhead strikes.

His power was winning; her blades were involuntarily lowering by the second. Zoro overshadowed her, he was so close.

She cursed in her head as she struggled to keep her defense up. The girl could see his smirk.

"Give up." he commanded in a serious voice. "I don't want to kill you."

She found her opening. She matched his smile. "That would be a damn shame, wouldn't it?"

Quickly, the girl slid her swords down from the middle of Zoro's own to the very base. She leaned back and with that motion, with all of her might, she pushed his swords with her and brought her knee into his groin. He yelled in pain.

Not stopping there, she completed the motion and leaned back all the way onto the railing which she was already up against, and tossed him behind her into the water.

He landed with a loud splash that commanded everyone's attention. They knew someone had fallen overboard and dropped anchor right away. The ship stopped with a jerk and Nokomi had to fight to keep her balance.

She couldn't keep from laughing as she saw him surface, most assuredly pissed off, and curse under his breath. Nokomi sheathed her blades; the fight was over, for now.

But something was wrong.

Her breathing was ragged. She heard her own pulse in her ears, sweat was pouring down her face, and her other wounds were open.

_Damn! _the girl swore in her head, _Those are open too?!_

Her vision was blurry; and she continuously lost her fight to keep her balance. Then, it happened.

She fell right over the rail.

_No!! _she screamed inaudibly, clawing for the ship in midair.

When she made contact with the water, all went black.

* * *

The girl heard whispers as she opened her eyes. Wherever she was, it was blurry. She reached for her head.

"What the...?" she muttered as her vision cleared. She was on the deck of the Going Merry. "What the hell happened..?"

"You acted like a freaking dumbass, that's what happened!" That was Isamu's voice scolding her. Here we go, she thought.

Nokomi sat up, still clutching her head.

"Ugh...damare (shut up) before I kill you, baka." she mumbled.

"What did you just say?!" he screamed.

Without knowing exactly where he was, Nokomi reached out, snatched her older brother's shirt and pulled him close.

"I said shut the hell up." she whispered to him and shoved him backward, making him land on his haunches a foot away from her.

She coughed up a bit of seawater and stood up, looking around her to see that everyone, minus Zoro, had gathered.

"Is this a funeral or something?" she said bitterly, "Give me some space to breathe, dammit!"

Everyone did as she ordered, with Kichiro stepping up cautiously to put a hand on her shoulder.

"We thought it would be, nesan." he told her calmly.

"How touching." She replied venomously. "I'm fine now, can't you see?"

"No, you're not." Robin stated, stepping forward from the crowd of Mugiwara pirates. "You could've drowned in the sea had the swordsman not saved you."

Nokomi did well to hide her surprise. He helped her? After she had tossed him off of the boat in the first place?

"You should go and rest." she continued, bringing her hands up in an 'X'. "I shall help you. _Tres fleur_!"

Nokomi felt something on her back and suddenly her arms were restrained behind her. She turned her head as best she could and saw hands sprouting from her back.

"What the freak?! Let go!!" she struggled with all her might, but she was unable to break the hold.

Her brother's were about to assist, but Nami kept them from coming towards her. She told them that everything was fine, and that she wouldn't be hurt.

Robin came towards her. "Walk, please." she asked her gently.

"Like hell!" Nokomi yelled in her face as much as she could with her restraints.

Robin placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and said, "If you struggle too much you'll start bleeding again." her gaze turned dark, "I'm not a doctor but I know you'll only hurt yourself if you continue. Come."

She began to guide the female swordsman towards the cabin, Nokomi protesting loudly all the while. When she jerked around too much, Robin added one more hand to keep her from moving. Soon, they both disappeared into the hallway.

"Will she really be alright?" Kichiro asked to no one in particular.

"Not if she keeps doing this crap." Isamu answered angrily.

"Don't worry," Nami reassured, "We'll keep her safe until you can leave. Or at least until we reach land."

She smiled at them, but it did little to quell their worries.

Then, came Sanji's addition, "Alright, lunch is ready. Come on and eat!"

With that, they all went into the galley to get food. Except for Chopper, who needed to check on his patient first before he felt it was time for lunch.


	5. Chapter 5: Revealed and Disposed

Once again, I don't own One Piece, just Nokomi and her brothers. Enjoy, everybody : ) And by the way, reviews and stuff are very welcome. XP

* * *

In Nokomi's usual cabin, Chopper opened the door to find the struggling girl, still restrained by the binding arms, face down on the bed, cursing in the pillow. Robin was at the foot of the bed in a chair, reading. The doctor had a sweat drop on his head as he approached the swordsman. But, before he could get too close, Robin said:

"I wouldn't go near her right now. You might get hurt." she warned, turning a page nonchalantly.

"Even with the-" he began to ask, but she cut him off.

"Even with the restraints I cannot guarantee you'll be safe."

He looked at the girl with a slight fear. How powerful could she really be?

"God dammit! Let me go or I slice out your heart and feed it to the sharks! Let me go!" she yelled, and continued to scream similar things throughout the moments he lingered there.

"Maybe we should remove her swords..." Chopper suggested to Robin softly.

"God help you if you come anywhere near my blades, you bastard!"

That killed the doctor's idea immediately.

And with that, he turned to leave, severely frightened. Before he reached the door, however, Robin told him:

"I suggest we keep an eye on her. We should work in shifts of three hours. That way she will not cause any more trouble to herself or others."

"What?! I don't need to be watched like a child!" Nokomi protested.

"If you keep acting as such, yes, you will." She told the girl calmly without looking up from her reading.

That caused Nokomi to go silent. Her struggle was less intense, as well. It was simply a tug at the bonds occasionally. Only small, quiet curses came from her mouth now.  
Regardless of the swordsman's outburst, Chopper nodded, both him and Robin agreed she'd take the first shift. With that, he went to go get lunch for all of them.

* * *

Robin was already done with her book by the time her shift was completed. Nokomi had fallen to laying limp within the bindings, not bothering to waste her energy any longer.

"Will you be calm now, ojo-san? (Miss)" she spoke to the wounded child before her, "I'm sure we don't need to keep watch on you all night, regardless of what I said before."

"I'm surprised you gave me such a high honorific." She mumbled bitterly.

The older woman did not reply as her powers dissipated and her extra arms disappeared. Nokomi stretched her arms out for the first time in quite awhile.

"That's one hell of a power you've got there. Never seen an Akuma no mi (Devil's Fruit) that gave such power before."

A faint smile was shown on Robin's features, "Arigatou, ojo-san." Some loud sound came from Nokomi, and she snatched at her stomach. The woman continued, "The galley is full of provisions you can enjoy if you are quiet enough. I'll leave the ship to you then."

With that, Nokomi was left alone, but not for too long.

Creeping from her cabin, the girl tried her absolute hardest not to disturb anyone and cause more problems. Up the stairs she tip-toed, and into the galley she ventured.

…Only to find the refrigerator bolted.

"What. The. Hell." She hissed angrily at her misfortune, "This ship is going to drive me _insane!_"

Footsteps behind her, she heard easily. She whipped around effortlessly, popping open her wakizashi sheath with her thumb. Her hand was upon it, ready to unless her fury upon her attacker when she found-

"Luffy?!" she practically screamed when she discovered the truth, "Why are you here!"

"Yo, Nokomi-chan! You're up already, ne!" he smiled wide, tipping his mugiwara up from his eyes.

_No thanks to you_, she thought with a twitching eyebrow and a vein pulsing across her forehead.

"I was hungry," he continued, "but Sanji always keeps the fridge locked."

She merely sighed, "Alright then, I'll watch the ship."

"Hoh! Then you'll be my nakama?"

The pulsing vein appeared again but Nokomi wisely quelled her annoyance, "Of course not, but I think it would be my obligation since you're giving me a free ride back to shore."

He didn't reply as she stepped onto the deck.

She viewed the goat figurehead again, and remembered it had been that place where she had went down. The green-haired swordsman was nowhere to be found. Wind was still blowing across the deck, even though they had stopped sailing for the night. It was dark and silent, just as she expected it to be.

However, on that ship, it never lasted long.

Far off, it seemed, she heard loud snores. At first, she was alarmed, but gained composure as she discovered where they were coming from: the crow's nest.

"Naaani?" (Whaaat?)

Her curiosity getting the better of her, she began to jump up on the ladder to the top of the mast. The skill she had obtained from years of practiced was not nearly consumed by the numerous wounds she had endured; climbing the steps was but a simple task.

Upon nearing the finish, Nokomi realized that the snoring was much louder than she had expected, and had been largely dispersed by the wind. Whoever was up there was in a deep sleep, indeed.

Of course, it was Zoro the swordsman, infamous for pulling such a stunt.

"Ne, Zoro-san! Shut the hell up!" Nokomi yelled at him, trying to keep her balance halfway on the ladder and in the crow's nest. No response. She began to get more than slightly irritated, "Oi!"

She could only see his eyes open as he lunged at her, Nokomi's response simply being a flinch; it was all she could muster hanging from the steps. A sharp strike to the head nearly tore her grip from the railing, but her instinct prevailed and she was able to hang on with one hand through the disorientation. Her feet almost slipped, along with a blurring amount of streaming curses.

"What are you trying to do?!" she blurted defiantly, clawing at the railing again with clouded vision.

During the next moment, she was pulled up ruthlessly by the swordsman and practically hung from the edge of the crow's nest. He held Nokomi by the throat by but one hand, thumb pushing her chin up and fingers dangerously close to crushing the wind from her.

"What do you _think_?" he replied venomously, the night's moon showing dark shadows upon his face, "I told you to leave, and now you try to kill me in my sleep."

"What the hell kind of trash are you talking?" Nokomi shot back. Zoro's response was hoisting her further off the edge. She could feel her breath shorten not only from nearly falling but from his unrelenting grip, "Why would I-" She choked, "want to do anything like that?! I have a debt to repay!"

"Do you think I've never seen a greedy bounty hunter before?" he hissed, "I can see it in your eyes as you watch him; watch _me_."

Nokomi had no reply; she simply looked away silently.

"Get off the ship." Zoro said once again, "Or I'll throw you from it."

"You think you can? What about our fight earlier?" Nokomi reminded him, speaking of when she completely threw him from the railing into the unrelenting ocean.

"Only a foolish swordsman would use their full strength on a child or a woman." Zoro told her darkly. Strangely, his grip lessened and he let Nokomi touch the ground. Her breaths came easier, then. He finished, "And you happen to be _both_.

"But if you don't leave soon," the swordsman added quickly, his grip tightening suddenly almost to the point where it was cutting off her air, "I'll_kill_ you, before you can blink!"

Nokomi nearly yelled in pain with the vice-grip around her throat; she could hardly even struggle. Her limbs refused to move properly.

_How could he be this powerful?!_ She screamed in her head. His gaze was unending and purely intimidating. The girl could feel a shiver slip up her spine in the face of death.

She knew she had to fight back, but there was no way she could. Her instincts shot at her as she tried to reach for her blades.

"I'll fight you…" she gasped, so low that it was surprising he could hear her. At last, her hand wrapped about the handle of her wakizashi; she twisted in his grip so she could speak with more ease, "Where is your honor? You can't take out an enemy without raising your sword!"

The faintest of smiles appeared on his face as he replied, "Ojo-chan, I'm a pirate; I have no honor."

With no difficulty at all, he threw Nokomi from the crow's nest, letting her fall to the cold, thick floorboards of the deck.


	6. Chapter 6: Balance and Scorn

I don't own One Piece, just Nokomi and her brothers. Enjoy, everyone. Comments and review are very much welcome. : D

* * *

Roronoa Zoro believed he had successfully disposed of the troublesome bounty hunter, but he gravely miscalculated her willpower. As if denying death, she clawed at anything at all to hold on to, and ended up catching the edge of the crow's nest and a wire holding the sail in place for the night with the other hand. Before the green-haired swordsman could notice, though, Nokomi used her grip on the wire to push herself over to the edge and hold it with both hands. She began to raise herself from the edge, despite the tear in her wounds she felt when she first caught hold of it, and shouted:

"You bastard! Thought you could get rid of me that easily?!"

A boot to the fingers released one of her arms from the crow's nest, and she swung for a second before she could recover.

"Yes." Zoro replied, lifting his boot to smash Nokomi's other hand, "And I still can!"

His foot descended, but was met with a stubborn arm above his intended target. Using that as a balance, Nokomi pushed with all her might and shoved the swordsman back, lifting herself onto edge of the crow's nest.

Without pausing to enjoy her victory she delivered a might kick into Zoro's midsection while he was still off-balance. He toppled over the edge; however, Nokomi knew that the fight was far from completed.

Zoro's skill was no less than Nokomi's as he caught the yard, the horizontal piece of mast keeping the sail in place, and swung around like a monkey to land, balanced, upon it. He drew one sword, thinking there was no need to go overboard, and stepped into a defensive position.

Nokomi was nowhere near as careful as she drew her wakizashi, and cut the line holding the sail up. It flew down with abandon and without control, causing the ship to lurch. Surely, it would wake most of the slumbering crew. She had to finish this quick.

She leaped out upon the yard and ran at Zoro, effectively creating a stalemate between the two blades. Sparks jumping, Nokomi bent her legs, causing her sword to morph into a head block, and put one hand on the yard to steady herself. The female swordsman hooked her foot around Zoro's leg and tripped him, making him fall forward. Using this as a lift, she pushed Zoro behind her, just as she had when she fought him previous.

However, the swordsman learned from his past mistakes.

Before she could completely topple him over her shoulders, Zoro grabbed the girl's front and when he flipped over, Zoro dragged her along with him. Not having nearly enough balance to remain upright on the small piece of wood after being thrown, Zoro fell, desperately snatching the yard in attempt not to fall, and let go of Nokomi. The girl, half-dazed after the unexpected counter, was slammed into the crow's nest again by her wounded shoulder. Her cry of pain could be heard by the waking and alarmed crew below.

Both of their first blades fell to the deck, digging easily inches into the thin wood.

The ship by now had a fully, if unruly, sail out and catching the wind passing it by. Although the anchor was firmly in place at the ocean's bottom, the resistance created by the sail caused the ship to groan in protest and shudder occasionally.

For the two struggling to keep themselves from slipping, it was a sorely difficult trek indeed.

Nokomi, already hurt and stunned from her previous wounds, let go first. With her unending spirit, she again caught the now flying cord that was used to keep the sail in place. Down she slid, cutting her hands but slowing her descent enough to stop halfway. Her other hand happily used this break to latch onto the rope as well, creating a firm if not stable hold.

Zoro, on the other hand, had the unfortunate experience of landing with the yard in between his legs, causing massive amounts of pain for below his haramaki sash. With all his might, though, he held back a yell.

And by this time, Isamu was already halfway up the ladder to the crow's nest, not pausing at all to help his sister and going straight for the kill at the top. Kichiro followed swiftly behind and reached Nokomi's level, and handed her his spear to bring herself over. She jumped upon the ladder and started to climb up to her older brother to stop him from reaching the end.

"Nii-san!" she yelled, though the call did nothing to stop Isamu, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

There was no response. Nokomi attempted desperately to catch up to him, but she knew she could never do it with her cut hands.

Then an idea came to her, and she smirked.

"Kichiro! Lend me your staff!" Nokomi pleaded, holding her hand down to him. A look of confusion came upon his features but he nevertheless quickly handed the double-headed spear up to her. She hoisted it above her head and let it fly with all her might as she cried, "Arigatou!!"

The bo whipped through the air with all the speed of a bullet. Isamu had no chance of evading such a strike but had no intention to. He did not even realize it was coming.

Of course, until it bit him in the ass.

The whole scene above the deck seemed to stop at that moment, with not a cry coming from Isamu but a triumphant smirk plastered upon the face of his younger sister. Then, a call cut through the otherwise silent night:

"AGH!!"

"Delayed reaction, ne?" Nokomi laughed, as she could see the form of her brother rapidly coming towards her. She would have disregarded it, but she realized another fact.

The spear had two ends.

"Ahhhh, _shit!_" She screamed, looking down and sliding at the same time, "Kichiro, move your ass!"

The spear fell away from the felled bounty hunter, but he continued to descend uncontrollably. And, Kichiro could not move nearly fast enough for the two younger siblings to get away. Isamu collided with the pair and all three of them crashed to the deck in a heap.

Nokomi emerged first from the pile, laughing hysterically, and not caring whether or not someone else would leap upon her in anger. Despite her yet again reopened wounds, she fell to her haunches giggling.

"Kami! (God!)" she said, taking in a huge breath of air after laughing continuously, "We need to get off this ship! It's driving us mad!"

"I think that's you, ne-san." Kichiro groaned after lifting himself up from under his brother. He wobbled a bit from the blow and spoke, "But we definitely need to leave."

"Damn right we do!" Isamu still lay sprawled upon the deck, bleeding from quite an awkward place, "I can't stand this!"

The girl already went to retrieve her fallen blade and sheathed it expertly. During this, the Mugiwara crew filed out onto the deck, seeing the carnage that Nokomi wrought.

"Oi, oi. What happened here?" Sanji asked impatiently, then losing interest once he saw Nokomi. He ran over to her and said, "My sweet, what are you doing out here? What have your brothers done?"

"Nothing, ero-cook." She replied wearily, "I just need to depart, as quickly as possible. Nami-san? When will we reach land?"

"Tomorrow." Nami answered, but with anger in her tone. She saw the sail and had a good guess what had happened, "Or we would have, had you not wrecked the ship."

"It wasn't my fault," Nokomi argued matter-of-factly, "I wouldn't have done anything if your swordsman didn't attack me."

Then, the whole crew looked up to see Zoro shakily upon the yard again, walking towards the crow's nest. The pain in his loins must have been tremendous. Once he reached there, he plopped down and silently refused to come down.

"_Zoro!_" Nami yelled, quite pissed off. However, it was just to vent her anger, for she knew that she would receive no response.

"Nami-san." Nokomi grabbed the navigator's attention before she could start throwing random objects at the unfortunate crew. She bowed, "Gomen nasai (I'm sorry). It's my fault the ship will be delayed and I'll pay for it when we reach land. I'll get a bounty for you and treat the whole crew to a feast."

All the woman could do was sigh and storm off, unable to argue with the deal. Nokomi silently fled to her own quarters as well, not able to deal with the shame she had placed upon not only herself but also her brothers, who had done nothing but attempt to help the female swordsman.

The rest of the crew and Nokomi's brothers stood stunned, confused and sleepy upon the deck, not knowing what to do or what to say.

What a long day they would have once the sun rose.


End file.
